Sorting devices for blanks or workpieces



E. F. WHITE 2,768,743

SORTING DEVICES FOR BLANKS OR WORKPIECES Oct. 30, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 6, 1953 Oct. 30, 1956 E. F. WHITE 2,768,743

SORTING DEVICES FOR BLANKS 0R WORKPIECES Filed May s, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 30, 1956 E. F. WHlTE 2,768,743

SORTING DEVICES FOR BLANKS OR WORKPIECES Filed May 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent SORTING DEVICES FOR BLANKS 0R WORKPIECES Ezekiel F. White, deceased, late of West Hartford, Conn.; by Madge Burnam White, West Hartford, Conn., and Hartford National Bank and Trust Company, Hartford, Conn., co -executors; assignors to The Poly Choke Company, Incorporated, East I-Iarfiord, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application May 6, 1953, Serial No. 358,35G

16 Claims. (Cl. 209-96) This invention relates to sorting devices and more particularly to a mechanism for sorting workpieces or blanks in order to cull from the acceptable blanks those which are unacceptable and deliver the latter to a separate point so that the rejects will not be mingled with those blanks or workpieces which would successfully pass inspection.

In manufacturing operations it is often necessary to subject all of the processed workpieces or blanks to some type of inspection in order to cull out the defective blanks which would not be suitable for use or for further processing operations. If an operator is required to inspect blanks individually, a great deal of time is consumed and the operation is a tedious one. It will be obvious that if the defect is of such a character that it can be detected by mechanical means as the blank is carried through or as it leaves the processing machine and the defective blanks led to a point of delivery separate from those which are acceptable, a great deal of time and labor will be saved and a great deal of expense will be saved in the manufacturing operation.

The present invention relates to a device adapted to sort blanks which differ in length and is particularly adapted to the sorting of bullet cores which have been previously formed to size. In the manufacture of such articles as bullets, for example, although it will be understood that the device is capable of use with other articles as well, it sometimes occurs that the length of the finished bullet core is not sufficient for its proper handling in a cartridge-loading machine. It is, of course, desirable that these bullet cores be all of the same length, but it is found that in their manufacture some will be produced which are shorter than the required length and should, therefore, be rejected and culled from the remainder which are of satisfactory length.

One of the last operations upon the manufacture of such bullet cores is that of milling the burr from the base of the bullet, which burr results from the processing operations to which the bullet has been subjected. According to the present invention, therefore, there is applied to the device for dressing or milling this burr from the bullet a sorting mechanism so that the bullets which are of a predetermined length will be delivered at one point and those which are shorter than a predetermined length, so as to be subject to rejection, are delivered to another point. Thus the sorting of the bullet cores is effected mechanically and the workpieces do not have to be individually inspected in order to cull out those which are too short.

One object of the present invention is to provide a sorting device adapted to separate workpieces or blanks as they are delivered from a machine for processing the blanks so that those which would not pass inspection may be separated from those which are acceptable for use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sorting machine of the character described which will separate the blanks according to the length thereof so that those 2,768,743 Patented Get. 39, 1956 which are too short for use will be separated from those of the proper length.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a machine for processing bullets or like members a sorting device simple in structure and economical tr manufacture and which may be applied to a device for performing one of the manufacturing processes on the bullets whereby as the bullet cores are delivered from the machine, they will be automatically sorted according to whether or not they are of a predetermined length.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a device for milling the burrs from the base of bullets having the improved sorting mechanism applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the sorting mechanism as applied to the machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of the sorting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 4.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, the improved sorting device is shown in the drawings as applied to a device for dressing the lower surfaces of bullets so as to remove any burr or burrs therefrom which might have occurred in previous processing operations. This device comprises a base or standard 10 having rotatably mounted thereon a dial 11, the dial being provided with openings 12 to receive a bullet and carry the bullet around in a vertical position as the dial rotates.

Below the dial is a stationery ring 13 upon which the lower ends of the bullets rest, as shown, for example, in Figs. 1 and 4. Also, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, this ring is not a complete circle but is discontinued at the front portion of the machine to provide a gap 14 between its ends so as to allow the bullets to drop from the machine when they reach this point, and their bases or lower ends are no longer supported upon the ring.

The rotatable dial 11 is provided with an annular slot 15 in its periphery, which slot is sufficiently deep, as shown in Fig. 4, to communicate with the openings 12 so that the bodies of the workpieces or blanks 16 may be contacted by a rotatable disk 17 when they arrive at a point opposite the disk. This disk is rotatably mounted on a bracket 18 supported in turn from the standard 10 and may be urged inwardly toward the bullets or workpieces 16 by a spring 19. This disk or wheel 17 holds the workpieces while the lower or base ends thereof are acted upon by a milling cutter 2t rotatably mounted in the standard 10 and driven by any suitable means. The cutter 2t mills the burrs from the base of the bullets as they are carried around upon the ring 13 by the rotating dial 11.

Supported above the dial 11 in an inclined position upon supporting members 21 is a hopper 22. The bottom 23 of the hopper is rotatably mounted therein and is of cone-shaped form and provided adjacent its periphery with openings or recesses 23 to receive the workpieces. This bottom member 23 is rotated by the shaft 24 rotatably mounted in a vertical position in the standard 10 and driven by any suitable means (which shaft also serves to rotate the dial 11), the shaft being connected to the bottom member through the bevel gearing 25. This member 23 carries the workpieces from the lower or right-hand end of the hopper, as shown in Fig. 1, to the upper or left-hand end thereof where a chute 27 communicates with the bottom of the hopper at its periphery.

When the workpieces reach the upper end of the chute 27 they drop into this chute and regardless of their position in the hopper they will descend through the chute with the base end down due to the greater weight of this end and the pointed shape of the front end. The lower end of the chute 27 is positioned above the openings 12 in the dial 11 so that the bullets drop into these openings to be carried about the surface of the ring 13 by the dial.

The dial 11 revolves in the proper direction to carry the workpieces past the milling cutter 20 so that the burr will be trimmed from the base of the bullet before the bullet reaches the opening or gap 14 in the ring 13, at which time it will drop from the machine. The improved sorting device is mounted upon the base 10 of the device adjacent the gap 14 in the ring 13 so as to sort the workpieces as they drop from the machine and after the burrs have been milled from the bases of the workpieces by the cutter Zfi. In this connection it will be noted that, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the upper or pointed ends of the bullets project above the upper surface of the dial 11 when the bases are supported upon the ring.

Secured to the face of the standard 10 in a position opposite the opening 14 in the ring 13 is a horizontally disposed U-shaped bracket 30, and supported upon this bracket is a vertical bracket 31, having an upper laterally directed end 32. Mounted upon the upper surface of the bracket 39 and in the lateral end 32 of the bracket 31 are bearing screws 33 and 34, these screws having pointed ends to rotatably support a vertical shaft 35 (Fig. 3). Upon the upper end of this shaft is adjustably secured an arm 36, this arm projecting toward the dial 11 so that its free end overlies the workpieces as they are carried therepast by the dial. The arm 36 is provided with a split hub 37, the adjacent ends of which are drawn together by the screw 38 so that the position of the arm 36, both vertically and radially of the shaft 31, may be adjusted. In practice the height of the arm 36 is so regulated that it will be engaged by all of the workpieces which are sufliciently long to be acceptable and, therefore, project above the dial to a suflicient extent to engage the arm. However, the level of the arm is such that any workpieces which are so short that they should be rejected or sorted out will pass below the 'arm without engaging it. As a result those workpieces which are sufliciently short to pass below the arm will be sorted from those which will engage and move the arm in their travel about the supporting ring 13.

Rigidly secured in the bracket 34 is a shaft 40, this shaft being secured to the bracket in an inclined position, and rotatably mounted on the inner end of the shaft is a switch member or gate of Y shape. This member comprises a pair of lower diverging arms 41 and 42 and an upwardly extending arm 43, the arms being secured at the junction thereof to a bearing member 44 rotatably carried by the shaft 46. Also secured to the shaft 35 adjacent the lower end thereof is an inwardly extending arm 45 (Fig. 4), the inner end of which is connected by the link 46 (Fig. to the upper arm 43 of the gate or switch member. The connection between the member 43 and the link 46 comprises the ball-:and-socket joint 47 so as to permit rocking movement of the arm 43 with respect to this link. It will be seen, therefore, that when the shaft 35 is rocked by engagement by one of the workpieces 16 with the arm 36, the Y-shaped gate or switch member will also be rocked moving from its fullline position shown in Fig. 3 to the dotted-line position shown in this figure.

The arm 45 projects to a slight extent forwardly from the shaft 35 or to the right thereof, as shown in Fig. 4, and connected to this end of the arm 45 is one end of a spring 48, the other end of which is secured to screw 48 passing loosely through a pin 49 secured to the bracket 30 adjacent one end thereof. The tension of this spring is adjustable by means of the wing nut 49 threaded on the screw, and a lock nut 49 is provided to hold the screw in any adjusted position. The spring urges the shaft 35 in a direction to hold the arm 41 of the Y-shaped switch member against a stop 50 so that normally the parts stand in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

The stop 50 is mounted upon an apron 51 secured in an inclined position to a bracket 52 mounted at the front of the standard 12 so that this apron lies behind the Y-shaped switch member and, as will be later explained, the workpieces drop from the front of the apron and slide downwardly either along the arm 41 or along the arm 42 depending upon whether the switch member is in its dotted or full-line position shown in Fig. 3.

The operation of the device may now be briefly described. As previously stated, the workpieces are deposited in the hopper 22 and carried upwardly in the hopper until they reach the upper end thereof so that they drop downwardly through the chute 27, as shown in Fig. l, to be received in the openings 12 of the rotating dial 11. They are carried past the holding wheel 17 where they are held by this wheel while the burrs are milled from the lower end thereof by the wheel 20.

The workpieces are then carried "around the base 10 by the dial 11 with their bases resting upon the ring 13 until they reach the gap. 14 in this ring, at which time they are free to drop from the openings 12 in the dial 11 into a receptacle to receive them.

As shown in the drawings, the sorting mechanism is mounted adjacent the gap in the ring 13 so that when the workpieces reach the end of this ring, shown in dotted lines at 13 in Fig. 3, they will drop downwardly and be sorted by the gate or switch member. If the workpieces are too short to engage the arm 36 as is the case with the workpiece 16 shown in Fig. 3, the switch member will remain in its normal or full-line position in Fig. 3, at which time the arm 41 is held against the stop member 50 by the spring 48. Therefore, the workpiece 16 which is too short to engage the arm 36, will drop downwardly along the left-hand side of the arm 43 and descend along the surface of the apron 51 and along the upper or left-hand side of the arm 42 to be deposited in the chute 53, shown at the left of Fig. 1, from which it may be carried to a proper receptacle.

However, if the workpiece is one of sufficient length to engage the arm 36, as shown at 16 in Fig. 3, this arm will be moved from its full-line position to the dotted-line position, shown in Fig. 3, thus causing oscillation of the shaft 35 and also causing through the link 46 swinging of the Y-shaped gate member to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 3. When the gate is in this position and the bullet 16 has reached the end 13 of the ring 13, it will drop downwardly in a substantially vertical path but along the right-hand side of the arm 43 and along the upper or right-hand side of the arm 41 to be delivered into the chute 54, shown at the right of Fig. 1. Thus the shorter blanks will be separated and culled from the longer blanks mechanically without personal inspection.

It will, of course, be understood that the device is adapted to separate longer blanks from shorter ones regardless of whether the longer or the shorter ones are those which are to be rejected, it only being necessary to cull those of one length from those of a longer length and deliver these to separate receptacles.

While there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sorting mechanism for a machine in which blanks are processed, which machine comprises a standard, a substantially horizontally disposed support on said standard, a rotatable carrier mounted above the support to carry the blanks over the surface of the support, said support having a free edge to permit the blanks to drop therefrom at a predetermined point, a deflecting member movably mounted on the standard for movement from one side of the path of discharge of the blanks to the other to deflect the blanks to either of two points of delivery, an arm pivotally carried by the standard and having its end portion overlying the blanks as they are carried along said support and adapted to be contacted only by a blank which exceeds a predetermined length, and means connecting said arm to said deflecting member to move the latter when the arm is moved by engagement with a blank.

2. In a sorting mechanism for a machine in which blanks are processed, which machine comprises a standard, a substantially horizontally disposed support on said standard, a rotatable carrier mounted above the support to carry the blanks over the surface of the support, said support having a free edge to permit the blanks to drop therefrom at a predetermined point, a deflecting member movably mounted on the standard below the support for movement from one side of the path of discharge of the blanks to the other to deflectthe blanks to either of two points of delivery, a substantially vertically disposed shaft oscillatably supported by the standard, an arm secured to the shaft and having a portion overlying the blanks as they are moved over said support whereby a blank of predetermined length engages and moves said arm and shaft, and means connecting said shaft to said deflecting member to move the latter.

3. In a sorting mechanism for a machine in which blanks are processed, which machine comprises a standard, a substantially horizontally disposed support on said standard, a rotatable carrier mounted above the support to carry the blanks over the surface of the support, said support having a free edge to permit the blanks to drop therefrom at a predetermined point, a deflecting member movably mounted on the standard below the support for movement from one side of the path of discharge of the blanks to the other to deflect the blanks to either of two points of delivery, a substantially vertically disposed shaft oscillatably supported by the standard, an arm secured to the shaft and having a portion overlying the blanks as they are moved over said support whereby a blank of excessive length engages and moves said arm and shaft, means connecting said shaft to said deflecting member to move the latter, and spring means urging said deflecting member in one direction about its pivot.

'4. In a sorting mechanism for a machine in which blanks are processed, which machine comprises a standard, a substantially horizontally disposed support on said standard, a rotatable carrier mounted above the support to carry the blanks over the surface of the support, said support having a free edge to permit the blanks to drop therefrom at a predetermined point, a deflecting member movably mounted on the standard below the support for movement from one side of the path of discharge of the blanks to the other to deflect the blanks to either of two points of delivery, a substantially vertically disposed shaft oscillatably supported by the stand-ard, an arm secured to said shaft for adjustment axially thereof to vary its position above said support, said arm having a portion overlying the blanks as they are moved on said support whereby a blank of predetermined length engages the arm and moves said arm and shaft, and means connecting said shaft to said deflecting member to move the latter.

5. In a mechanism of the class described, a standard, a support fixedly mounted on the standard, means for propelling a series of elongated blanks along said support in upright position and dropping them therefrom at a predetermined point of discharge, said means comprising a carrier dial rotatably mounted above the support and having openings therein to receive the blanks, an arm pivotally carried by the standard and having a free end extending over the blanks as they are propelled along said support to be engaged and moved by blanks exceeding a predetermined length, a deflecting member pivotally mounted on the standard below said support and adjacent the point of discharge, said member having an arm adapted to be positioned on either side of the path of discharge of the blanks and deflect the latter from said path, and means connecting said first arm to said deflecting member to actuate the latter about its pivot.

6. A mechanism as in claim 5 wherein said first arm is mounted upon a vertically disposed shaft oscillatably carried by said support, and means are provided to connect the shaft to said deflecting member.

7. A mechanism as in claim 5 wherein said arm is mounted upon a vertically disposed shaft oscillatably carried by the support, and means are provided to connect the shaft to said deflecting member, and spring means are provided to maintain said shaft and deflecting member in a predetermined position.

8. In a mechanism of the class described, a standard, a support fixedly mounted on the standard, means for propelling a series of elongated blanks along said support in upright position and dropping them therefrom at a predetermined point of discharge, an arm pivotally carried by the standard and having a free end extending over the blanks as they are propelled along said support to be engaged and moved by blanks exceeding a predetermined length, a deflecting member pivotally mounted on the standard below said support and adjacent the point of discharge, said member having an arm adapted to be positioned on either side of the path of discharge of the blanks and deflect the latter from said path, means connecting said first arm to said deflecting member to actuate the latter about its pivot, the arm of the deflecting member extending upwardly from the pivot point of the deflecting member, and said deflecting member being Y- shaped in form and having a pair of diverging arms extending downwardly from the pivot point.

9. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which all of the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member movably connected to the standard below the support to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, and means adapted to be engaged and moved by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial and connected to the deflecting member for moving the latter to position it on one side or the other ofthe path of discharge of the blanks to sort the blanks falling from the support.

10. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which all of the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member movably connected to the standard below the support to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, and means adapted to be engaged and moved by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial and connected to the deflecting member for moving the latter to position it on one side or the other of the path of discharge of the blanks, said means comprising an arm pivotally carried by the standard on a substantially vertical axis and having a portion extending over the dial.

11. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member movably connected to the standard to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, an arm extending over the dial above the openings therein to be engaged by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial, a shaft rotatably mounted on the standard to which said arm is secured, and means connecting said shaft to the deflecting member for moving the latter to position it on one side or the other of the path of discharge of the blanks.

12. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted. above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member pivotally mounted upon the standard to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, a shaft oscillatably mounted on the standard, an arm adjustably secured to said shaft and extending over the dial above the openings therein to be engaged by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial whereby the shaft is rotated when said arm is moved, and means connecting said shaft to the deflecting member to move the latter about its pivot.

13. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member pivotally mounted upon the standard to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, a shaft oscillatably mounted 011 the standard, an arm adjustably secured to said shaft and extending over the dial above the openings therein to be engaged by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial whereby the shaft is rotated when said arm is moved, means connecting said shaft to the deflecting member to move the latter about its pivot, a stop limiting the movement of the deflecting member in one direction, and spring means normally urging said member against said stop.

14. A blank-sorting mechanism comprising a standard, a support on the standard, a dial rotatably mounted above the support having openings therein to receive a series of blanks with their bases resting on said support, said support having a free edge from which the blanks drop when propelled thereover by rotation of the dial, a deflecting member pivotally mounted upon the standard to engage and deflect the blanks when so dropped, a shaft oscillatably mounted on the standard, an arm adjustably secured to said shaft and extending over the dial above the openings therein to be engaged by a portion of the blanks projecting above the dial whereby the shaft is rotated when said arm is moved, means connecting said shaft to the deflecting member to move the latter about its pivot, a stop limiting the movement of the deflecting member in one direction, and adjustable spring means normally urging said member against said stop.

15. A sorting mechanism for a machine in which blanks are processed, which machine comprises a standard, said sorting mechanism being adapted to sort out blanks of less than a predetermined length and comprising a support on the standard along the upper surface of which the blanks are carried for discharge therefrom at a predetermined point, a deflecting member movably mounted on the standard below the support for movement from one side of the path of discharge of the blanks to the other to defiect the blanks to either of two points of delivery, an arm pivotally carried by the standard on a substantially vertical axis, a rotatabie dial by which the blanks are carried along said surface, said arm having an end portion overlying said dial and spaced therefrom whereby blanks of a predetermined length contact said arm and blanks of less than said predetermined length pass freely below said arm without contacting, and mechanical means connecting said arm to said deflecting member to move the latter when the arm is moved by engagement with a blank.

16. Sorting mechanism for culling short blanks from those of acceptable length, said mechanism comprising a support along the surface of which the blanks are cartied in an upright position, and a dial rotatably mounted above said support to carry the blanks therealong, a pivotally mounted arm having a portion extending over said dial in spaced relation thereto to permit the short blanks to pass thereunder and to be engaged and moved by blanks of acceptable length, a deflecting member pivotally mounted below the support in the path of discharge of the blanks from said support, and mechanical means connecting said arm to said deflecting member whereby the latter is moved by engagement of the blanks of acceptable length with said arm but remains at rest when the shorter blanks pass under said arm, said deflecting member being mounted to move from one side to the other of the normal path of the blanks in dropping from the support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,348,310 North Aug. 3, 1920 1,624,389 Bratton et al Apr. 12, 1927 2,390,012 Timm et al. Nov. 27, 1945 

